Planning notes, January - April
Part of the planning process involved getting some of IGN's excellent maps of the area. In this case, we obtained five different maps and mounted them in our office to produce one large map of the general area. It basically stretches from Bordeaux in the west to Cahors in the east, including both the Dordogne and the Lot rivers.
Our collage of IGN maps
Crocuses in our front garden, welcoming the spring and helping us plan our spring trip
We now have reservations to Font de Gaume for Wednesday, 27 April at 11am. We are very much looking forward to this special expedition. From the Office du tourisme:
"The grotto of Font-de-Gaume, in Aquitaine, was discovered in 1901 by Doctor Capitan, Abbot Breuil and Denis Peyrony. The aesthetic quality of its wall paintings has brought to an end the argument about the recognition of Palaeolithic art. The adorned grottoes that were previously discovered, such as Chabot, Altamira, Pair-non-Pair or La Mouthe, had been very much debated. More than 200 works of art wall, painted or engraved, form true compositions. They occupy the four main parts of a 120-metre long network. Animal - the bison predominates - as well as non figurative representations with quadrangular or tectiform signs are the main themes. They add to the interest of these artistic testimonies which are attributed to Magdalenian art and are considered one of the first masterpieces of Prehistory."
Our car rental is arranged (through AutoEurope as usual) and we've booked our hotel in Belvès. We'll be staying in the Suite des Consuls at the Hôtel Clément V for 6 nights. Now it's on to the Bordeaux portion of the planning.
At this point it looks like we'll be staying at the Hôtel de la Presse which is a small hotel in the old centre of Bordeaux. We hope to have the room that's featured in the virtual visit of their site; it has a balcony and looks quite large and comfortable. We're just waiting to hear back on a few questions we have.
Once that's out of the way we can start to figure out what other things we want to do while we're there. Mind you, we already have many winery visit possibilities thanks to Steve's hard work! He's been going through the Guide Hachette des Vins 2005 to find wines that he thinks we'll like and then contacting the winemakers. He's got quite a few lined up already.
One thing that we definitely want to do is visit la Grotte de Font-de-Gaume which is the last prehistoric cave with polychrome paintings that is still open to the public. It is supposed to be marvelous!
Less than two months to go!
Another location that we are seriously considering is Belvès, which is a little south and east of Bergerac. Our thinking is that it will get us closer to the vineyards of the Cahors AOC which we are very interested in checking out.
Belvès is a town of about 1500 people with several restaurants and, perhaps more importantly, several boulangeries. It looks very pretty from the pictures we've seen and its location is quite central to many of the things that we want to do. At this point the front-runner for places to stay is the Hôtel Clément V.
Early consideration is being given to staying in Bergerac for the first several days. To this end, we have been looking at the Hôtel de France as a possibility.
Official site of Bergerac
Our thinking is to then spend the last few days in Bordeaux.
We bought our tickets today, which are non-refundable and non-transferable, so we are committed! We leave Toronto on the evening of Saturday, 23 April and arrive in Bordeaux (via Paris on Air France) just after noon on Sunday, 24 April. We return on Wednesday, 4 May.
Below is the Bordeaux we toasted our trip with tonight.
This Calvet Reserve is not a bad wine at all. We've had a couple bottles now and quite enjoy it.
Our collage of IGN maps
Crocuses in our front garden, welcoming the spring and helping us plan our spring trip
Font de Gaume (notes from 12 March)
We now have reservations to Font de Gaume for Wednesday, 27 April at 11am. We are very much looking forward to this special expedition. From the Office du tourisme:
"The grotto of Font-de-Gaume, in Aquitaine, was discovered in 1901 by Doctor Capitan, Abbot Breuil and Denis Peyrony. The aesthetic quality of its wall paintings has brought to an end the argument about the recognition of Palaeolithic art. The adorned grottoes that were previously discovered, such as Chabot, Altamira, Pair-non-Pair or La Mouthe, had been very much debated. More than 200 works of art wall, painted or engraved, form true compositions. They occupy the four main parts of a 120-metre long network. Animal - the bison predominates - as well as non figurative representations with quadrangular or tectiform signs are the main themes. They add to the interest of these artistic testimonies which are attributed to Magdalenian art and are considered one of the first masterpieces of Prehistory."
Bordeaux (notes from 26 February)
Our car rental is arranged (through AutoEurope as usual) and we've booked our hotel in Belvès. We'll be staying in the Suite des Consuls at the Hôtel Clément V for 6 nights. Now it's on to the Bordeaux portion of the planning.
At this point it looks like we'll be staying at the Hôtel de la Presse which is a small hotel in the old centre of Bordeaux. We hope to have the room that's featured in the virtual visit of their site; it has a balcony and looks quite large and comfortable. We're just waiting to hear back on a few questions we have.
Once that's out of the way we can start to figure out what other things we want to do while we're there. Mind you, we already have many winery visit possibilities thanks to Steve's hard work! He's been going through the Guide Hachette des Vins 2005 to find wines that he thinks we'll like and then contacting the winemakers. He's got quite a few lined up already.
One thing that we definitely want to do is visit la Grotte de Font-de-Gaume which is the last prehistoric cave with polychrome paintings that is still open to the public. It is supposed to be marvelous!
Less than two months to go!
Belvès (notes from 13 February)
Another location that we are seriously considering is Belvès, which is a little south and east of Bergerac. Our thinking is that it will get us closer to the vineyards of the Cahors AOC which we are very interested in checking out.
Belvès is a town of about 1500 people with several restaurants and, perhaps more importantly, several boulangeries. It looks very pretty from the pictures we've seen and its location is quite central to many of the things that we want to do. At this point the front-runner for places to stay is the Hôtel Clément V.
Bergerac (notes from 20 January)
Early consideration is being given to staying in Bergerac for the first several days. To this end, we have been looking at the Hôtel de France as a possibility.
Official site of Bergerac
Our thinking is to then spend the last few days in Bordeaux.
Serious planning can now proceed (10 January)
We bought our tickets today, which are non-refundable and non-transferable, so we are committed! We leave Toronto on the evening of Saturday, 23 April and arrive in Bordeaux (via Paris on Air France) just after noon on Sunday, 24 April. We return on Wednesday, 4 May.
Below is the Bordeaux we toasted our trip with tonight.
This Calvet Reserve is not a bad wine at all. We've had a couple bottles now and quite enjoy it.
posted by Steve at
3:42 p.m.
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